Moses marshall



(No Model.)

M. MARSHALL.

KNITTING MACHINE.

Patented Nov 21, 1882.

N. PETERS. PhalwLilhugmpher. Wahinglnn, u, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOSES MARSHALL, OF GHIGOPEE FALLS, 'MASS., ASSIGNOB TO THE LAMB KNITTING MACHINE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE.

SPEGIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,982, dated November 21, 1882.

Application filed October 4, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MosEs MARSHALL, of Chicopee Falls, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to that class of knit-ters represented by the wellknown Lamb machine, commonly known in the art as straight reciprocating machines, wherein series of parallel needles mounted in grooved plates are moved endwise by means of cams attached to a reciprocating carrier-frame.

My invention relates especially to the cams employed for operating the needles, said cams being commonly known in the art as locks. These locks, of which there are two,located one on each side of the machine, consist each of two cams for depressing the needles and an intermediate cam or cams for elevating the needles.

The object of my invention is to adapt the machine to produce a variety of fabrics by causing the cams to move the needles a greater or less distance, and to elevate or depress the needles to a different extent when moved in opposite directions.

To this end the invention consists in combining with the two depressing-cams an intermediate stationary depressing cam of a A form having its lower ends exposed to serve as stops, to limit the ascent of the needles; in the combinati0n,with the foregoing, of the peculiarly-arranged elevating-cam having one end exposed and arranged to be lifted by the needles during the travel of the cams across the machine in one direction, and in various minor features and combinations, which will be hereinafterdetailed also,in combining with said cam a locking device, by which it may be maintained permanently in its elevated position.

My invention is susceptible of embodiment in different forms without departing from the limits of the invention or changing the mode of operation, the accompanyin gdrawin gs, however, representing the device in the form in which I prefer to use it.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents a face elevation of my improved lock with the parts adjusted and secured in position to elevate and depress the needles to their full limit. Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the movable elevating-cam in its depressed position. Fig. 3 is a detailed view, illustrating the manner in which the needles cause the elevating-cam to rise. Fig. 4. is an outside face view, illustrating the device for locking the elevating-cam upward. Fig. 5 is a crosssection on the line m m, and Fig. 6 a cross-section on the line 3 y, of Fig. 4. In Figs. 2 and 3 the arrows indicate the direction in which the locks are supposed to be moving when the parts are, in the position represented.

A represents the lock-plate, to which the various cams are attached.

B Brepresent the twoV-shaped cams for depressing the needles, said cams being adjustably connected to the opposite ends of the plate A by means of screws a passing through inclined slots 1) in the plate, as usual, the arrangement being such as to permit the cams B B to slide upward and downward. As a means of adjusting and securing the cams B B, disks G are seated in the plate A, and are provided with crank-pins cl, engaging in horizontal slots 6 in the cams. The disks 0 will be provided on the outer side of the machine with finger-pieces or other ordinary means for operating and securing the disks, so that the attendant may readily adjust and secure the cams B B at the desired elevations.

Between the cams B B, to the top of the lock-plate A, is secured rigidly a cam, D, of an inverted-V form, this cam bearing against and maintaining at all times a close connection with the inner edges of the cams B B, and being recessed or cut away in its under side, as shown, so that the needle-shanks may rise within it. This cam 1) serves the purpose of assisting the cams B B in depressing the neodles, and its lower horizontal ends, '0, also serve to check the ascent of the needles, as hereinafter described.

To the lower side of the lock-plate are secured rigidly two small elevating-cams,E and F, their outer edges beingat such distance from the cams B B, respectively, as to permit theneedle-shanks,sometimes denominated needle-butts, to pass between. The cams E and F are, as shown in the drawings, of limited height, and serve to elevate the needle-shanks to a point immediately below the ends of the fixed depressing-cam D. Between the cams E and F is pivoted an elevating-cam, G, its pivot being located at one end and below its upper edge. This cam may be turned upward, as shown in Fig. 3, above the level of the elevating-cams E and F, for the purpose of engaging the needle-shanks after they have reached the top of the cams E and F, and carrying them still higher in order to carry the needles to the full limit of elevation, when required. The cam G is mounted loosely on its pivot, and when left free falls by gravity to the position represented in Fig. 2, with its end or nose projecting slightly above the upper edge of the. cam F, in such position as to be encountered by the needle-shanks riding upward over cam F. When the shanks of the ascending needles thus encounter the end of the cam G, they force the cam upward to the position represented in Fig. 1, so that it causes all the needles to pass upward over it, thereby elevating themto their highest operative positions. The cam, being relieved from the pressure of the shanks of the needles, immediately falls to its former position, in which it remains. During its movement in the opposite direction the needles pass upward over the cam E and backward over the cam G, without being further elevated thereby. It will thus be seen that the effect of the cam G, when free, is to cause the needles to receive a much greater elevation as they'are moved in one direction than when they are moved in the opposite direction.

As it is sometimes necessary to secure the cam G in its elevated position, in order that the needles may receive their full elevation during the movement of the cam in both directions, a hand-lever, H, is pivoted to the outside of the lock-plate and arranged, when moved in the direction of the arrow, to throw the cam upward and en gage beneath the screw or stud thereon, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to lock the cam firmly in place.

The following are the various operations of my improved lock upon the needles when the machine is ready for operation:

When the cams G on both sides of the machine are locked in their elevated positions the needles will rise in the needle-race to its highest point duringthe movement of the lock in each direction. As the lock moves in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3 the elevating-cam F first elevates the needles to the lower end of the cam D, with which they come in contact. The needles now remain at rest until they are encountered by the advancing cam G, by which they arec-arried to their full elevation, after which they are depressed by the cam D until they reach its lower end, after which they are acted upon by the cam B and carried to their lowest limit. In

this manner the needles are given their full length of movement during the passage of the lock in both directions. When the cam G is unlocked and left free the operation is as follows: As the lock moves in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2 the needles are partially elevated by the fixed cam E, and, after remaining momentarily at rest, are depressed by the action of the advancingcam B; but during the movement of the lock in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3, the needles are partially elevated by the cam F, and after encountering the lower end of the cam B they are encountered by the advancing cam G. The needles, acting against the free end of the cam G, cause the same to rise to its uppermost position, (represented in Fig. 1,) the cam thus elevated passing beneath the needles and compelling them to rise to their highest elevation. After the passage of the upper point of the cam beneath them the needles are acted upon by the cam D and partially depressed, after which they are acted upon by the cam B and carried to their lowest limit of movement.

It will be observed that under the lastnamed arrangement the needles receive a full elevation and depression while the lock is passing in one direction, but a partial elevation only when the lock is moved in an opposite direction. The result of this action is that as the lock passes in one direction the needles each retain the previous stitch instead of casting it over the latch, at the same time taking yarn for another stitch, so that when they have completed their motion the previous stitch and the yarn for another stitch are both on the needle; but during the reverse motion of the machine the needle casts both the old and the new stitches, and forms a single new stitch during the return motion, and thus produces a fabric of the Royal rib or half Cardigan pattern. 4 In making the full Cardigan fabric the cams G on both sides of the machine are unlocked, and as the two cams have their free ends directed toward opposite ends of the machine they are elevated alternately, one being operated as the locks move in one direction and the other elevated as the locks move in the opposite direction. The result of this arrangement is that as the needle-carrying frame moves in one direction one set of needles will be elevated to their highest point and caused to cast their stitches, while the-other set will rise only to the middle point and retain their stitches, and vice versa. By this operation the stitches are cast alternately on the two sides of the machine, producing the full Cardigan stitch.

The Derby rib fabric is made-when both the cams G are locked upward and the needles receive their full movement, the half Cardigan or Royal rib when one of the cams G is locked up and the otherleft free, and the full Cardigan when both of the cams G are unlocked.

One of the great advantages of the automatic cam G is that in the forward or backward motion of the cam it always assumes its proper position without difficultyand withoutclogging the machine, so that the cams may be passed over any given number of needles required and reversed as readily at one point as at another.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l 1. The combination of the needles, two depressing-cams, B B, and an intermediate cam, D, of a A form, having its lower ends constructed and arranged to limit the ascent of the needles in the passage of the cams across the machine in both directions at such point as to prevent them from casting the previouslyformed stitches, substantially as described and shown.

2. The two depressing-cams B B and means for adjusting them in the manner described,

in combination with the depressing-cam D, hayin g the exposed ends 0, as described and shown.

3. The combination of the fixeddepressingcam, recessed in its lower side to admit the needle shanks, and two adjustable I depressingcams, seated against and forming a downward continuation of the opposite sides of the fixed cam, as described and shown.

4. The combination of the depressing-cams B, B, and D and the elevating-cams E, F, and G, constructed and arranged for joint operation substantially as shown.

5. In combination with the depressing-cams,

6. The combination of the stationary elevating-cams E and F, the intermediate pivoted cam, G, constructed in the manner described and shown, and the pivoted latch or support H to sustain the pivoted cam, as described and shown.

MOSES MARSHALL.

WVitnesses:

HENRY N. LYON, FRANK D. HOWARD. 

